Constantinople Notes

The political split was first formalized by Emperor Diocletian, who split the eastern and western halves of the empire into separate administrations. The splits were institutionalized by Constantine, who moved his capital to the city of Byzantium. He did it because the empire was too big for one seat of administration to manage. Also the Easter (Greek) part of the empire resented the rule of the western (Latin) part of it, so this was also to appease the people of the eastern part of the empire. With now two capitals competing for resources and attention, one had to be neglected over time, and since Constantinople was the hub of all commerce from the Far East and the western world, Rome lost the prestige it once had. Also Rome. Population also was affected by this move, Byzantium (which ultimately became Constantinople) was just a village before Constantine had his "vision" to build another capital there, after the administrative workers and artisans and merchants moved there, Rome started to lose its intellectual population, leaving behind poor and uneducated people. City taxes took a hit, since fewer and poorer people translated to less revenue there was less money to maintain the city. Also Rome was the seat of the Catholic Church which was competing for influence with the Emperor himself, so the government did it's best to isolate him. But the more lasting effect was the ultimate separation of the Western (Latin) and Eastern (Greek) roman empires. This division precipitated the fall of the western half bringing with it the fall of civilization in Western Europe, bringing the Dark Ages and leaving the Church as the only beacon of civilization in Western Europe, which is why western science lagged behind eastern science. The city of Rome was taken in 410 by the Vandals. The Western Roman Empire "officially" disintegrated in 476.

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...capital to Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople.
-Constantinople was advantageous to Rome in that it could deal with barbarians, was a huge trading port, and it made protecting the eastern front easier.
Justinian
-In 527 Justinian became emperor through his uncle.
-He sent his general Belisarius to reclaim the land lost to the west
-Belisarius took North Africa from the Vandals, and Rome from the Ostrogoths.
-Justinian then ruled all of former Rome, including Spain and Italy.
Emperors and their Power
-Due to the Eastern Orthodoxy beliefs the emperor headed both church and state.
-Many emperors were assassinated and other abandoned it all together due to politics.
-They also had the power to dismiss and appoint Bishops.
Eastern Roman Empire
-As well as speaking Greek instead of Latin Eastern Rome belonged to the eastern branch of Christianity.
-Rome's legal system was also rectified by ten legal experts due to their antiquated ways. This resulted in a body of civil law known as Justinian's Code. This was broken down into 4 works; the Code contained 5,000 laws, the Digest summarized Rome's legal thinkers about law, the Institutes was a book that told law students how to use laws, and the Novellae presented legislation after the year 565AD.
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14. Who was united due to Clovis?
- Barbarian Tribes of France called the Franks.
15. Review: Where city was now the new capital or the new Rome?
- Italy
-What was still Roman about this city/territories?
16. Describe how the Roman Empire was different after the split between East and West:
- Greek- East Latin- West
17. True False Justinian wanted to reunite the entire Roman Empire.
headora
18. Empress T___________ was Justinian's wife and power behind the emperor. How many sports
fans were slaughtered after the Empress convinced Justinian not to flee.
Part III Plague
19. What church does Justinian build in Constantinople?
-Hagia Sophia
20. Under Justinian, the Mediterranean was once again a ______________ lake.
Roman
21. What percentage of urban areas were killed by the bubonic plague?
20-50%
22. How did rats carry plague?
- Carried by fleas on rats.
-How many people were struck down by the plague of Justinian?
-100 million - about 1/3 of the population
Part IV Men of the Cloth, Men of Letters: Monasteries
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________________________.
sunset to sundown
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- A building(s) occupied by a community of Monks living under religious vows.
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...
Constantinople withstood sieges in 674-678 and 717-718 by
A. The Sasanids
B. The Gauls
C. The Russians
D. Arabic forces
One of the causes of Byzantine resurgence was the political innovation wherein a general was given military and civil control over an imperial province or
A. Theme
B. Sasanid
C. Corpus
D. Satrapy
The Byzantine ruler who led a resurgence of power in the eleventh century by crushing the Bulgars was
A. Theodora
B. Belisarius
C. Basil II
D. Justinian
In the year 962, Otto of Saxony
A. Accepted the sovereignty of the Byzantine emperors
B. Created a written alphabet for the Slavic people
C. Expanded the scope of Byzantine influence by translating Justinian's code into German
D. Claimed to rule as emperor of the old western half of the Roman Empire
Justinian's issuance of the Corpus iuris civilis
A. Won recognition as the definitive codification of Roman law
B. Outlawed the Greens and Blues
C. Brought immediate excommunication from the pope
D. Inspired the First Crusade
The term Greek fire refers to
A. The devastating fire that swept through Constantinople in 1013
B. The passionate Byzantine loyalty to Greek philosophy
C. The smallpox epidemic that hit Constantinople in the twelfth century
D. The Byzantine incendiary weapon
Basil II crushed the Bulgars in 1014 at the Battle of
A....